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Broken
Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon

Score:
7.2 / 10

This
is my first exposure to the Broken Sword series of which this game is
the third chapter. If this is what I am to expect from the future of the
series, and if this what the future of adventure gaming is, I am sorry
to say it, but I wish then that the genre would die. Video games have
come a long way since the days of Kingís Quest, Space Quest, and all
of the other classic Sierra adventure games. Those games had more of an
endearing quality to them for whatever reason, but the ideas and the
gameplay models of those games are pretty much what we find here in
Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon Ė albeit in a much more polished
package.

Back
in the day, adventure games were all the rage. Who can forget the wicked
hilarity of the Adventures of Willy Beamish or the clever satire of the
Space Quest series?It
seems that not much has progressed since those days, if the gameplay
model of Broken Sword is to be taken into consideration. It seems that
the series has many fans, and all I can really say is that there is no
accounting for taste.

The
game does have a handy feature for those not familiar with the series as
there is a background story that you can peruse.The story basically continues with a

new adventure with the main
characters, George and Nico; a lawyer and a reporter from different
parts of the world who always seem to get mixed up in trying to save the
world.Although
extremely campy, the overall storyline canít really be faulted for
trying and for existing to drive the player through the game. However,
in this era of gaming, having a story driven game with less than stellar
gameplay is usually the reverse of most games, but is no more acceptable
than if the reverse were true.

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The
gameplay mechanics are fairly simple. The game is played from a third
person perspective which shows off the crisp graphics nicely.The gameplay consists of interacting with objects that are
highlighted when they can be used in some way, and in talking to people.
Objects that are picked up and added to your inventory can also be
combined to accomplish other goals. Speaking to people is also a simple
affair as there only characters that you can speak to in the given
environment that you are playing in.

The
game is broken up into chapters that coincide with the area that you are
playing in. These chapters are broken up by cut scenes that further the
storyline. Getting through each chapter successfully is a simple affair,
but can be frustrating for the wrong reasons. Back when the point and
click adventure was first becoming popular, gamerís quickly discovered
that there was little challenge or fun in walking around environments
and clicking on everything that appeared useful or interactive.Yet entire games could be completed in such a manner.Broken Sword is one such game. The recipe for completing each
level is much the same; click on everything that is highlighted, talk to
all of the people in the scenario, and repeat until complete.
Occasionally you will encounter a snag where you do not know what to do.
Usually, this is because there is a highlighted item that hasnít been
tried yet, or someone that you need to return to and talk to some more.

There
will be some puzzles where George or Nico must negotiate certain areas
in order to get to a needed location. Again there is very little
challenge here as there is little threat of failure or of brain
activity. Also, there will be some puzzles with combining inventory
items. These puzzles do not require a lot of thought either and at any
rate could be overcome through simple trial and error if a gamer became
stuck.

One
of the driving elements of an adventure game is the storyline. Broken
Sword has numerous dialogue elements that are voice acted in an effort
to drive the story. The voice acting here is serviceable and surpasses
most other games. One problem that the game has, is in dealing with the
order in which a gamer may choose to ask questions. I encountered some
occasions where the AI didnít know which response to choose so I was
left watching moving mouths with no dialogue.

Broken
Sword doesnít leave a whole lot of choice up to the gamer. The game
basically plays out as an interactive movie with the little challenge
involved. Needless to say, this type of gameplay is hardly challenging,
thought provoking, or enjoyable, for most serious gamers.However, what Broken Sword does do is very polished and offers a
slick level of gameplay for the occasional gamer used to solitaire and
minesweeper.Those gamers
more used to the rich variety in todayís modern day breakthrough games
will likely not seek out the Sleeping Dragon and I cannot recommend that
they do.